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AMX-VCI
|type=armoured personnel carrier |is_vehicle=yes | crew= 3 + 10 passengers | length= 5.7 m | width= 2.67 m | height= 2.41m | weight= 15.0 tonnes | armour= 10-40mm | primary_armament=turret mounted 20mm cannon | secondary_armament=12.7 mm machine gun or 7.5 mm machine gun | engine= SOFAM Model 8Gxb 8-cyl. water-cooled petrol | _power= 250 hp (190 kW) | suspension= Torsion-bar | speed= 60 km/h | pw_ratio= 16.7/tonne | vehicle_range= 350 km }} The AMX-VCI ( ) is one of the many variants of the French AMX-13 light tank. It was the front line APC of the French Army until replaced by the AMX-10P. History Produced to the extent of some 3,000 vehicles from 1957, it was initially produced as the AMX-13 VTT ( ) carrying ten infantrymen and armed with an AA-52 7.5 mm machine gun or 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun in an open mounting. In the final versions this had climbed to a turret equipped with a 20mm light autocannon, producing a vehicle that can be seen as an early example of the infantry fighting vehicle. =Variants= The AMX-13 VCI itself was the basis for a number of variants: *AMX-VTP: Original APC variant armed with open-mount light machine-gun *AMX-VTT (AMX-VCI): APC fitted with turret mounted light machine-gun *AMX-LT: VTT based artillery fire control vehicle *AMX-PC: VTT based command Post *AMX-VCA: VTT based 155 mm Support Vehicle designed to accompany the Mk F3 SPH *AMX-VCG: Combat engineer version *AMX-VCI 12.7: Version with 50 calibre (12.7 mm) HMG used by France and the Netherlands *AMX-VCI M-56: Fitted with Canon de 20 mm *AMX-VCPM de 81: VTT-based 81 mm Mortar Carrier *AMX-VCPM de 120: VTT-based 120 mm Mortar Carrier *AMX-VCTB ( ): VTT-based Ambulance *AMX-VTT avec tourelle NA2: Fitted with ATGM launcher *AMX-VTT ROLAND: Roland SPAAML *AMX-VTT Version 1987: Modernised version with all the tank automotive improvements *AMX-VTT with Minotaur Mine System: Minotaur scatterable mine-laying system fitted on rear *AMX-13 RATAC: VTT-based RATAC ground surveillance radar vehicle *AMX DOZER: bulldozer blade equipped version *AMX-13 VCPC: Argentinian Army version of the AMX-13 VCI *AMX-13 mod.56 VCI: Belgian Army version with a .30 Browning mounted in a CALF38 turret. *AMX-13 mod.56 mm mortar carrier: Belgian Army version *AMX-13 mod.56 post: Belgian Army version *AMX-13 mod.56 atgm: Belgian Army version with rear-mounted ENTAC missile launcher *AMX-13 mod.56 cargo: Belgian Army version *AMX-VTT TOW: Dutch Army version with TOW launcher on cupola *AMX-GWT (GeWonden Transport): Dutch army version of the VCTB *DNC-1:Mexican Army local designation, slightly modernized version with diesel engine and 20 mm. cannon, upgraded by SEDENA. Combat history A total of 30 AMX-VCI were reportedly delivered to the Lebanese Army in May 1983,Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), p. 54. with a number of them being seized by the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia in February 1984 upon the defeat of the Lebanese government forces by Shia Muslim and Druze militias. The captured vehicles were quickly pressed into service by the SLA, who used them until the collapse of the militia in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal of April 2000. VCIs up-armed with US M-46 106mm recoilless rifles were later employed by Lebanese Army General Michel Aoun’s loyalist troops in the battles against his Christian rivals of the Lebanese Forces (LF) at East Beirut in February 1990.Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), pp. 56 and 60. Operators * : Argentine Army * : Belgian Army successor to the M75 armored personnel carrier AMX-13 mod.56 VTT (305 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 PC (72 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Cargo (58 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Mor (90 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 MILAN (86 vehicles) and AMX-13 mod.56 ENTAC (30 vehicles). Replaced by the M113A1-B and the AIFV-B.Milpedia, [http://nl.milpedia.org/wiki/AMX-13_VTT#De_Belgische_AMX-13_Model_56 AMX-13 VTT, De Belgische AMX-13 Model 56] * : VTT/VCA and command post versions in service with the Cypriot National Guard. * : Ecuadorian Army * : French Army, replaced by the AMX-10P. * : Indonesian Army in duty 200 * : in service with the Lebanese Army from surplus French Army stocks between 1983-1990. * : Mexican Army 409 units in service * : Dutch Army * : Qatar Armed Forces (Army) * : Sudan People's Armed Forces * : Venezuelan Army * : United Arab Emirates Army Non-state operators * Army of Free Lebanon: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1976–78 * Lebanese Arab Army: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1976–77 * South Lebanon Army: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1984 and 2000 See also *AMX-13 *AMX-10P *List of AFVs Notes References * Christopher F. Foss, Jane's Tank and Combat Vehicle Recognition Guide, HarperCollins Publishers, London 2002. ISBN 0-00-712759-6 * Steven J. Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2): The wars of 1973 to the present, Concord Publications, Hong Kong 2003. ISBN 962-361-613-9 External links *Photos and file on the AMX-13 VCI at ArmyRecognition.com Category:Tracked armoured personnel carriers Category:Armoured personnel carriers of France